Service Please

Sailboats and motor boats. Sun and blue sky and blue lake. Navy Pier in the afternoon sunlight. The National Weather Service tells me that it's 86 degrees outside, but I guarantee that it's closer to 81 in Streeterville. It's summer that we live for in these climes. The winters we survive so we can experience the loveliness that is summer at 41 degrees North 87 degrees West and along the shores of one of the loveliest inland seas on the orb that is Planet Earth.

It takes a few years of life on this planet to fully understand and appreciate this loveliness that is summer, but when you finally get it down, enjoying it to its fullest is a fine art to be honed year after year. One of the things that Babs and I have learned to appreciate over the years is dining outside. Now I'm not talking about picnics, though they have their place. I'm not talking about cheap plastic tables in the backyard of one of those beer palaces all over the City of Chicago.

On occasion, a backyard function at someone's house can be a treat, if that person knows how to do this right. Babs and I inhabit a 14th floor perch far above all of that and do not have a backyard any more. We did at one time possess a lovely backyard of a lovely old 100 year old home in Andersonville at one time, though. It was small, but it was a summertime treat. It was a brick backyard surrounded by greenery and a haven from it all in the midst of the city.

Now that we no longer possess our own little slice of the outdoors to inhabit in the summer, we are dependent on visiting friends with lovely little slices of outdoors, or more often dining al fresco in one of the many restaurants with outdoor seating. All outdoor seating is not created equal. Some are mere seats on the sidewalk. Some are a respite from the sidewalks, with a view of humanity passing. Some have lovely tables and linen tablecloths. Some are cheap metal tables from Home Depot. If I wanted that I'd go visit old neighbors and friends with backyards. One pays for the restaurant experience and stays for the ambience that is dining outside in the summer warmth. (Or just having drinks and maybe an appetizer.)

Thus far I have dwelt upon the where (outdoors) and the what (dining and drinking), but I have said precious little about the all important who that is the character of the place where you go to dine under the stars above. It may have taken a while for me to meander around to this point, but it is an important one. Who is serving you and how that individual goes about it makes all the difference in the world in your al fresco experience. Good service. Friendly wait staff. Cool. I'll come back. You, ladies and gentlemen deserve a good tip.

That being said, there are places that should be lovely places to visit, but turn out to be total disasters. What am I talking about? I'm talking about Feast on Delaware in downtown Chicago boys and girls. There was a time a few years back when Babs and I discovered this lovely little restaurant on North Avenue on the edge of Wicker Park. The food was great. The service was beautiful. We loved it. A gem. Then they became popular and moved to a larger location on Halsted in the heart of Wicker Park. Turned out to be loud, not quite so good food, and a wait staff that was clearly more interested in serving the pretty 20 somethings than a middle-aged couple who actually possessed cash for tips and such. The service was lousy and we were stuck off in a corner next to the kitchen.

Now the people who own Feast also own The Goddess and Grocer and I have nothing but praise for this place and they have locations in Wicker Park and now on the corner of Delaware and Rush in downtown. The restaurant and wine bar attached to the downtown branch was originally named Cru and had its charms, except for a problem with snotty gay waiters who didn't seem overly motivated to take care of the clientele. Tres annoying. I am reminded at this point of a New York acquaintance who once said to me incredulously, "Why would you not go to a restaurant because you got bad service?" Well friend, this ain't New York, and people actually care about getting a little respect and service for the outrageous prices you pay at these places.

Anyway, to make a short story long, Cru recently ceased to exist. It seems the well-heeled clientele of the Gold Coast and Streeterville didn't take kindly to the bad service, even if it did have an impressive wine list and a reasonably good menu. Well, turns out the owners just redid the interior a little and changed the name so they could have two restaurants with the same menu. Cru became Feast. Voila! The same crappy service that has been foisted upon all of the youngsters in Wicker Park who either don't know any better or don't really care (See the New York resident quote above.) was brought to downtown Chicago.

Babs and I have given the former Cru, presently Feast restaurant several chances. How many chances are too many? It is close to where we live and we can walk there in 5 minutes or less. It has a lot of outdoor seating. The service is crap. Does no one there understand the concept of service industry? It means you serve other people for money. It does not mean you ignore them in hopes that they will go away, unless they happen to be someone you know personally or who you think is particularly hot (Sexually).

I am not prone to giving restaurant reviews or advising people on these sort of things, but enough is enough. I will never visit this restaurant again. And I encourage others to not visit this place. The service is crap. The food is OK, but nothing special. At these prices there are a plethora of better places to spend one's money right down the street. That's Feast ladies and gentlemen, and I encourage you not to go there. Have a good evening. I think I'll go have something to eat at a good restaurant with good service.